Bamboo

[justgivein]

My wife's f

My wife's friend has given us five bunches of bamboo eight foot high .He dug them out of his garden and said how important it is to put them in a bucket of water.I've found an empty green dustbin filled it with water and placed it on the corner front of the house with semi shade.He said in their natural habitat that it always rains from three o'clock onwards.Probably a daft question but can I just leave them in the dustbin with water covering the roots or should i as before plant them separately in large pots.Any advice would be great thanks

I don't suppose you want my advice, which is to leave them in the bin or (even better) give them straight back to him

Seriously, though, if you don't want to kill them keep them damp but don't drown them, and plant them in very strong pots as soon as possible. You should probably chop off a fair amount of the height and remove the older canes. They'll grown back far too quickly.

Don't, whatever you do, plant them in the ground.

Thankyou that's great.I'll buy large pots ,plant them in semi shade.Last year we had several in large plastic pots in full sun at the front of the house.In the hot weather even with lots of water the leaves were dying off rapidly.So do you think shade with late afternoon sun is a good position.Are they ok to leave overnight in the plastic dustbin or should I put them bare rooted in the garage.Thanks for your help

@justgivein

Thankyou that's great.I'll buy large pots ,plant them in semi shade.Last year we had several in large plastic pots in full sun at the front of the house.In the hot weather even with lots of water the leaves were dying off rapidly.So do you think shade with late afternoon sun is a good position.Are they ok to leave overnight in the plastic dustbin or should I put them bare rooted in the garage.Thanks for your help

Buy cheap pots, the roots will inevitably punch their way through in a couple of years. B&Q have some decent bell pots for about £8 each.

In about two years time when it's still winter buy another pot, remove the bamboo from it's current pot and saw the root ball in half, then plant in your new pot. You've now doubled your crop of plants and stopped the plant becoming pot bound.

Thanks that's great advice .We love bamboo in pots it's great for hiding fences so splitting and doubling the crop I'll crack on with this winter.Thankyou

@justgivein

Thanks that's great advice .We love bamboo in pots it's great for hiding fences so splitting and doubling the crop I'll crack on with this winter.Thankyou

It's a lot of impact with one plant. Pot it in a reasonable sized pot and you'll get a couple of winters before you need to separate. These are the ones mine are in, inexpensive so if they do crack it's not a huge loss:

www.diy.com/departments/florus-glazed-taupe-plastic-bell-plant-pot-dia-55cm/1886599_BQ.prd?storeId=1249&ds_rl=1272379&gclid=CjwKCAjwxuuCBhATEiwAIIIz0URZPC7XTwOQ_0wJh9QzhyONuNSSECpQMb9OhTrUQWt_2cXfZ49dJhoCiawQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I have some in the ground as well, but thats a clumping variety that doesn't go as mad and is a bit more controllable.

I think the biggest issue with bamboo in pots is people buying those long, fancy, expensive rectangular containers and not realising that they will be bursting out of them in 2 years time. I keep seeing them in design programs and thinking "Yep, come back in a few years and see if it all looks as pretty" 😁

I think Bamboo gets a bit of a bad press, keep it in the right way and it's a beautiful, useful plant.